Going on vacation - which lenses/accessories to bring, which to stay at home

[Orcrone]

I'm going on a European river cruise, my first trip to Europe. I have a Canon 5D Mark III, along with a Canon 16-35mm f/4.0 IS USM, a Tamson 24-70 f/2.8 di VC USD, a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 di VC USD and a Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM. The camera bag is getting a bit heavy and crowded and I wanted to get some opinions of what equipment to leave at home.

Since most days I'll be on organized tours without a lot of time to setup I figured I'd leave my tripod at home. Same thing for my battery grip. I'm guessing there will be times when I need a strobe so I'm figuring on taking my 580 EX II Speedlite.

I normally use the 24-70 mm as my walk around lens. But I'm pretty sure I'll want the 16-35mm when taking architectural pics. So I'm considering leavnig the 24-70 at home and most of the time leaving the 16-35 on the camera. If I need telephoto I have the 70-200 and for the pics between 35 and 70 I have my feet and the 50 mm prime.

What's your thoughts on this combo?

Thanks!!!

[jrhoffman75]

I have taken two river cruises - Rhine and Danube.

Other than the castles on the Rhine I never saw the need for telepohoto lens - 80% of my photos were 70mm or shorter.

Close streets outdoors and you need wide angle to capture architecture indoors.

[RobertTheFat]

Given John's experience, one possibility would be to leave the 24-70 and the 70-200 at home; then  buy or rent a Canon 24-105 f/4, an excellent walking-around lens that's not very heavy, to cover the few times you'll need something longer than 70 mm.

That said, I wouldn't want to spend much time on a boat without a 70-200 available to photograph objects along the shore. My wife and I went on a senior citizen cruise in Gloucester Harbor a few weeks ago, and I used my 70-200 a lot. My 24-105, which I also had along for our time on shore, wouldn't have done the job.

REMINDER:  If your camera hasn't been cleaned and inspected recently, have it done before such an important trip, not after you get back. And remember that the Canon shop will reset the camera to most factory settings, and that means JPEG, not RAW! This past week I had reason to regret overlooking that point.

[ebiggs1]

If it were I, I would take the camera with grip and the 24-70mm. I would leave all the rest at home. Second option is adding the 70-200mm. There will be little f1.8 lens will get that a f2.8 won't so the 50mm is out. They are not likely to let you use flash where you will need it. So it is out. I would love to have the 16-35mm along but it isn't all that much wider and much less friendly on the long side.
You need to take several 8 to 16 gb cf cards and not one huge one. Preferably 8 gb and change them often.

[ebiggs1]

By several cf cards, I mean 10 or more. Change at least every day and every outing is even better.
The grip may last you all week with good fresh batteries.

You didn't ask but again if it was me, I would take my G 15 P&S camera, too. I have done trips like this many times both professionally and pleasure. You can guess what you need and then find out what you "needed".
That G15 saved me several times!

[jrhoffman75]

Some additional thoughts based on my experience - I was on Viking cruises.

You don't need to carry your camera bag around during the off-ship walks. The 16-35 and 24-70 would cover verything you would experience in the towns. A small bellybag can hold the second lens, cards, etc.

I didn't bring my camera bag on these trips. I bought an inexpensive, small drag-behind wheeled bag at TJMax that I put all of my tech gear in - camera, lenses, chargers, iPad/iPhone chargers, etc. Went in the overhead on the plane. Using the drag-behind eliminates the weight issue, so you have more flexibility in bringing lenses.

Agree on tripod and flash; just not needed.

Even though you are on a ship, it's not really a cruise. Most of the time the ship is repositioning at night. The 70-200 would come in useful if you are on the Rhine and want to capture the castles, or on the Danube through the Wachau Valley. These are the two daytime trips. Using the drag-behind eliminates the weight issue.

[RobertTheFat]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:
If it were I, I would take the camera with grip and the 24-70mm. I would leave all the rest at home. Second option is adding the 70-200mm. There will be little f1.8 lens will get that a f2.8 won't so the 50mm is out. They are not likely to let you use flash where you will need it. So it is out. I would love to have the 16-35mm along but it isn't all that much wider and much less friendly on the long side.
You need to take several 8 to 16 gb cf cards and not one huge one. Preferably 8 gb and change them often.

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I really don't see the importance of the grip. Indeed, it's the first thing I'd jettison in favor of other equipment. To me, a grip would be useful only in very fast-paced event photography (weddings, fires, wars, etc.), which certainly doesn't characterize an excursion of this sort. Under normal circumstances, the time it takes to change out a battery is negligible, and a grip is just dead weight. Even if the grip can serve as a charger (and I don't think many can), an extra charger is apt to be smaller and lighter than a grip.

[ebiggs1]

Bob from Boston,

Although the extended battery usage is obvious, the extra grip stability is also a plus when using a battery grip.  I have had them on every single camera I have ever used. All 5 of my XTi's had them.  Even going back to the F1n and A1 when it was called a motor drive had them.

Now I have purged myself of cameras that use a grip a grip as an accessory.  I only have my 1 series models and of course the grip is built in.

Again if it were me the camera, grip and 24-70mm would be going.

[ScottyP]

If I were leaving lenses, I'd leave the 16-35 home. The 24-70 covers all but the 16-23 part and 24 is pretty wide on a FF.

The only big bulky lens is the 70-200. It would make sense to leave it if traveling light was critical but I love mine so much I'd take it anyway. As stated above you don't have to carry everything on every excursion.

I found a sling bag that carries a FF camera with a 70-200 MOUNTED, plus one regular sized lens (Sig Art 35) plus a speed lite. Think Tank Turn Style. Smallest sling around and yet also about the only one that lets the big lens to ride mounted. Way way better than carrying my backpack.

[Orcrone]

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I must not have had notifications set correctly, because I didn't find out there were replies until today (11/16). Since we're leaving tomorrow it would be difficult to buy something in time; the closest decent camera shop is over 1.5 hours away round trip.

Right now I have the camera, strobe 16 - 35mm, 70 - 200mm and the 50 mm packed. I keep running into the same problem that I'm hearing from others. There are certain things that I must bring, but it's easy to find a reason/scenario to bring more. I thought about eliminating the SpeedLite, but then figured I'd like to have it for indoor shots on the ship. Like John suggested I thoughht of leaving the telephoto at home, but then figured what if there's something in the distance I want to shoot. Aside from which I like using it as my portrait lens.

Bob - good suggestion about cleaning the camera but it's less than 3 months old so it's not needed quite yet.

Ebiggs - I have two 32gb CF cards and two 64gb sdhc cads. I'm bringing a card reader and a small (150 gb) portable hard drive. I figure I'll download the pics every night to both the hard drive & my wife's computer. Plus my wife's computer will back up the pics to One Note. Then I"ll start fresh every morning. I'm also thinking of taking my SD95 P&S for times when I don't want to carry everything.

I'll probably stick with what I have or possibly add the 24 - 70mm and pack it carefully in the middle of soft clothing in my carry on. Or better yet move the SpeedLite to the carry on, remove the 50mm from the backpack and include the 24-70mm.